About Animal Hospitals

What is an Animal Hospital?

An Animal Hospital is a medical facility for animals that provides a comprehensive set of animal medical care services. Services range from wellness and routine examinations to diagnostics and treatment on both an in-patient and out-patient basis. Most Animal Hospitals are private, for-profit businesses.

Animal Hospitals that provide preventive care exams and diagnostic exams typically have in-house laboratory resources that enable them to test blood, urine, and other samples without having to send samples to an outside facility. Other common testing and diagnostic resources at Animal Hospitals include radiology, electrocardiograms, and ultrasound.

In addition to routine surgeries, Animal Hospitals are capable of specialty surgeries and other specialized treatments, such as laser surgery and oxygen therapy. Full boarding facilities are available at Animal Hospitals, and they offer intensive care along with full stock pharmacies. Many Animal Hospitals also provide dental services.

The extensive in-house resources of Animal Hospitals make them suitable for emergency medical services. A veterinarian is available during all hours of operation, with sufficient staff to receive, treat, and monitor emergency patients with timely and appropriate care.

Animal or Veterinary Clinics are similar to Animal Hospitals, but they tend to have more limited resources. Animal and Veterinary Clinics emphasize preventive care, neutering, spaying, and other routine procedures and diagnostics. They are more likely to use outside facilities for test results and refer non-routine surgeries to Animal Hospitals. Animal Clinics may primarily provide out-patient services, with less capacity for in-patient care.

A Veterinary Teaching Hospital is an Animal Hospital facility which has a large staff that conducts applied research and teaches veterinary students while providing hospital services.